Good Afternoon
by evelinaonline
Summary: Ever since Master Wu disappeared into the time Vortex, things in the Temple of Airjitzu have been difficult for the ninja, especially for the Master of Lightning. One day, when Cole loses his favourite hoodie, he decides to search for it in Jay's room. After all, what better culprit than the one who has been stealing his clothes for the past weeks? [Platonic Bruiseshipping]


**You know how in season 8 of Ninjago, Jay just kinda holds Cole's arm? This is a short one-shot on why he does that, and how Cole feels about it! It takes place after season 7. Enjoy!**

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Cole had been searching for his hoodie all morning. He double-checked every single room in the Temple of Airjitzu but he just couldn't find it. He wasn't the one to leave his belongings at random places - espescially not his clothes - so he knew for sure one of his brothers or sister was behind this.

The only room he hadn't checked was Jay's but the lightning ninja was asleep and Cole didn't want to wake him up.

Ever since Master Wu disappeared, Jay hadn't been getting lots of sleep. All the ninja had been affected by their sensei's disappearance and each of them dealed with loss in a different way. Zane cooked, Kai and Nya trained and Lloyd and Cole kept quiet with their thoughts.

Jay reacted differently. He didn't really take the time to mourn like the others, so he was overall much more stressed than the other ninja. The times that his anxiety prevented him from sleeping were many, and actually seeing him fall asleep was a miracle.

Cole wasn't planning on interrupting his dreams.

He had to check though. He would be going out for dinner with his dad and he needed something casual to wear. That hoodie was one of the few ones that his dad approved of for going out, and Cole needed to make sure it was clean.

The ninja of earth made his way to Jay's room, trying his best not to make a sound while opening the door.

The first thing he noticed was that the room was dark. All the windows were shut and the only source of light came from outside the now-open door.

Still standing outside and peeking from the door's small opening, Cole scanned the room for his hoodie but with no luck. Jay's room was surprsingly clean too - although he would still have to clean it up later - so if he couldn't spot it on the floor, it meant that it wasn't there. But that couldn't be it.

Jay had been snitching Cole's clothes for weeks. Cole pretended not to notice because he was curious about where it would lead to. Regardless, Jay was the guaranteed to be culprit.

Cole soon came to realise that the reason he couldn't spot the hoodie on the floor was because it simply wasn't there: Instead, it was on Jay's bed.

Jay was wearing it.

It didn't fit him at all. The sleeves were at least two inches longer than his arms, and his hands were lost in them. The hood of the black piece of clothing acted as a pillow for him. The hoodie itself was huge, making Jay sink into the soft fabric.

Cole started questioning how he had even seen Jay when he entered. He was literally burried inside his hoodie.

Cole shook his head at his friend. He had to admit, Jay looked adorable. His lips were slightly parted to breathe more easily and steadily. He was slightly leaning on his right side, facing Cole. One of the hoodlaces was lying across his face, stroking his nose.

The master of earth couldn't help but smile at how silly that looked. He still didn't get why Jay had taken his hoodie and why he chose to sleep in that instead of his bed covers, but at least he had a nice laugh.

That aside, Jay looked very cozy in it. He hadn't seen him look so peaceful in days.

Cole almost felt sorry for the little mess he would have to clean up after he woke up. Cole opened the door just enough so that he could enter the room and got in. 'Time to clean this up.' he thought and threw an empty bag of potato chips into the trash can.

Not even a full minute later, he flinched as he heard Jay's bed covers shift behind him. He turned around, only to see Jay squinting his eyes. "Cole…?"

"Good morning." Cole shooted at him. "Or rather, good afternoon."

"Close the door." Jay ignored him and covered up his face with the hoodie's sleeves. A ray of light was illuminating the room, falling directly on Jay's face, and it was annoying him.

"Alright, sleepy head, alright." the ninja of earth did as he was told. He knew he should've closed the door before. "Now, care to explain why you're in my hoodie or are you planning on napping again?"

"Believe me, if I could nap, I would." Jay rubbed his eye and stretched his arms.

"And the reason you're wearing my hoodie?" Cole raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Um…" Jay sat up and crossed his legs. "It's comfy?" he chuckled nervously.

Cole couldn't understand how it was possible for this to get even more adorable. Now that Jay was standing up and the hoodie was hanging from his body, it looked even bigger than before.

"Acceptable." Cole shrugged. "What about the rest of my clothes then?"

"Ah!" Jay gasped, glancing at one of his friend's shirts on his desk. "Well, you see, there is a very logical explaination for all of this and… And I am going to tell you what it is right now!" Jay ran his hand through his messy hair, causing the hood to fall off from his head. "Gosh, my hair grew a lot, didn't it?"

"Don't avoid the question, Jay." Cole said. "Look, I don't mind you taking my clothes but I at least want to know the reason you do that. I'm sure there's a 'logical explaination', as you said, and I want to hear it."

Jay bit the inside of his cheek and looked to the side. "It's stupid…"

Cole sighed and sat at the edge of the bed. "I'm listening."

"It's 'cause-" Jay flinched. "It's because sometimes, I need someone and no one is here, so I just… Pretend."

"What does that even mean, Jay?" Cole softened his tone.

"Ever since Master Wu disappeared," Jay began. "everyone has been distant. I am not excluding myself. I don't know how you guys deal with loss, so I didn't want to bother you with my problems. I don't know, maybe you needed some time for yourselves. Maybe you didn't want me to bother you."

"You should have told me you felt that way, Jay."

Jay had changed the position he had been sitting in before. He was now hugging his legs, curling himself in Cole's hoodie even more. "It's been getting worse."

Cole was afraid to ask, but he did. "What's been getting worse?"

"All of it." Jay said. "My anxiety, the panic attacks, the inability to sleep…" he tried to remain calm but there was a crack in his voice. "I feel better when I'm not alone so… Since we are all busy looking for Master Wu, and we spend our spare time to ourselves to grief, I found a way to feel less lonely. Jay saw how Cole remained silent and decided to continue. "I told you, it's stupid-"

"Jay." Cole interrupted him by putting a hand on his knee. "It's not."

Jay glanced up to Cole and met with his determined look.

"If you wanted someone around, you should have told me." Cole said. "The truth is, I too, need someone to help me keep my cool. And I miss hanging out with you."

"You do?"

"We're friends, Jay. _Best_ friends. We should be here for one another."

Suddenly, Jay's saddened expression disappeared. "You're right." he sniffed.

"How about instead of stealing my clothes-"

"Technically, I borrowed them-"

"-you hold onto my arm instead?"

Cole knew that physical contact calmed Jay down. The first time he figured that out was when he had a nightmare at the Monastery. Cole calmed him down by patting his back.

After Zane's death, Jay's nightmares became more regular. Even after Zane did return, Jay had been traumatised. He remembered that when Cole turned into a ghost, not being able to touch Jay was one of the biggest problems they faced, especially since Jay and Nya weren't on very good terms back then.

Jay raised an eyebrow before bursting out laughing. "Pff, like what, hold your arm like some kind of fangirl?"

"Please!" Cole joined in. "You are my _biggest_ fangirl!"

"You bet I am!" Jay grinned. "I'm also the luckiest, considering I'll be holding hands with you whenever I get scared now." he playfully punched his best friend's arm.

"So it's a deal then?" Cole asked. "No more stealing clothes?"

"One, it's borrowing, not stealing. And two, can't I keep this one?" Jay pouted. "It's really cozy…"

"Jay, it's my favourite one!" Cole exclaimed. "Not to mention it's fifty times your size."

"That's too bad, it's mine now!" Jay said. "You can have it back once you return my scarf."

"But it's comfortable!" Cole complained. "You can't just ask me to give it back like that!"

"Then I am keeping this hoodie!" Jay announced and put the hood of it back on.

A sigh escaped Cole's lips. "You'll pay for this."

Jay leaned against Cole's shoulder, hugging his entire arm and sticking his tongue out at him. "We'll see about that."


End file.
